NEW YORK – A New York City postal worker was arrested after 17,000 pieces of undelivered mail were found in his car, apartment and home, according to a court document.

Aleksey Germash, a letter carrier who’s worked for the United States Postal Service for more than 16 years, had undelivered mail from as far back as 2005 in his possession.

During an interview with agents from the USPS Office of Inspector General, Germash said he was “overwhelmed by the amount of mail that he had to deliver.” He said he started stashing letters at his Brooklyn apartment several years ago, but that he always “made sure to deliver the important mail,” according to the document filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

After the USPS OIG received a tip that there were multiple, full bags of mail in a green Nissan Pathfinder in Brooklyn, agents allegedly found about 10,000 pieces of undelivered mail in 20 bags inside the vehicle on April 18.

They found an additional 1,000 pieces in Germash’s locker at the Dyker Heights, Brooklyn post office where he worked, and another 6,000 additional pieces of undelivered mail in his apartment, according to the USPS OIG’s office.